Sports
22:43, 22-Dec-2017
Fifteen-year-old Zhang Kexin crowned at halfpipe freestyle skiing World Cup
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Chinese teenage athlete Zhang Kexin, 15, won the gold medal in the ladies’ halfpipe event at the Freestyle Skiing World Cup which took place at the Secret Garden super-pipe, Hebei Province, China.
Zhang Kexin entered the final in first place. She registered a total of 88.8 points at the first round with a spectacular and stylish performance, earning 85.8 and 87.8 points in the second and last rounds, taking her to the top with the best score of 88.8 points, as well as to the top of the general classification standings. She also won the third place in Copper Mountain days before.
Silver went to Watabe Yurie of Japan with a tally of 86.2 score, while 82.2 points won the bronze for Russia's Valeria Demidova. Another Chinese skier Chai Hong finished eighth at the competition.
Thomas Krief of France was crowned the men’s halfpipe champion. Joel Gisler of Switzerland took second place, just ahead of his compatriot Robin Briguet.
Halfpipe freestyle skiing was introduced to the Winter Olympics in 2014 as part of the Games in Sochi. It has been a few years since the Chinese national team began practicing for this event, which is almost entirely formed by younger professional skiers. Zhang Kexin’s championship is the first gold medal China has won for freestyle halfpipe.